Jessica (Jessi) Crenshaw (she/her) is a Licensed Social Worker (LSW) who received her Bachelors in Social Work, with a Minor in Women and Gender Studies from Northeastern Illinois University. Jessi also obtained her Masters in Social Work degree from Jane Addams College of Social Work at UIC with a specialization in children and families. Jessi has experience working in community mental health as a therapist, crisis intervention for runaway/lockout youth, providing trauma-informed services in a domestic violence shelter, and crisis intervention in emergency rooms for survivors of sexual assault. Jessi focuses her work on adolescents, teens, and young adults. She is trained in both domestic violence and sexual assault advocacy.
Jessi recognizes the strength in making the decision to begin one’s therapeutic journey and how difficult it can be to find the right therapist. Her focus is on ensuring the space feels safe to start that journey. Jessi is passionate about incorporating a therapeutic foundation rooted in an anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and trauma-informed lens. This helps foster an openness and mutuality into the space to strengthen the therapeutic relationship. Jessi welcomes all clients who are seeking a sex-positive, polyam-affirming, gender-affirming, body/fat positive, and 2SLGBTQIA affirming therapist. She specializes in working with survivors of trauma/abuse, people experiencing depression, identity exploration, anxiety, self-harm, and anger.
Jessi utilizes an approach that is empathetic, playful, creative, introspective, casual, and welcomes the messiness that comes with lived experiences. She also incorporates a mixture of different therapeutic modalities that center around becoming in tune with a person’s physical reactions to triggers and how to cope with this (somatic therapy/mindfulness), exploring a person’s inner-child to create space for self-compassion and healing (inner-child therapy/narrative therapy), and how to reframe unhelpful thoughts/behaviors (cognitive-behavioral therapy). Jessi is passionate about avoiding a “one-size-fits-all” modality when working with clients, as every person is unique and the expert of their own life. She also recognizes the importance in cultivating a safe and authentic therapeutic space to walk alongside a client’s journey to healing.
Outside of therapy, Jessi enjoys watching scary movies, playing with her two cats, and exploring the city for new things to do. She also loves astrology, crystals, live music, and reading psychological thriller books.You can reach Jessi at jessica@headhearttherapy.com.